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The Murders of Teen's family by, Nehemiah Griego the son, in NM. What do you think our Courts should do with him?

This is another one of those cases, that really has me asking myself, a lot of questions. I was wondering what others thought about this case. Was it Mental Illness? What do we do with all these young kids that kill, mostly kill their families? Should they be tried as an adult? Here's some of the things that I just don't understand.

1. The Uncle says the parents wouldn't allow him to play any violent video games. Yet, I don't think that is the case or that parents are very careful these days with what movies they watch, video games they play. As matter of fact, if I happen to be seeing a rated R movie, I see A LOT of young kids in there. Sad. Do you feel kids watching or playing violent movies or video games, can contribute to kids & violence?

2. The teen planned on going to Wal-Mart to open fire on shoppers & have a shoot-out with the police. What possesses anyone, yet alone a child to do this? He's dad is a Pastor, the teen was home-schooled & very active in Church. What happen to this teen? I just don't understand this. How can he kill his parents, & especially kill his siblings like that?

3. The Uncle says that they believe differently about guns then a lot of Americans. Since, the father was gone a lot, he taught his 15 yr how to shot a gun. There were a lot of weapons, loaded inside the house & NOT locked up. Why? WHY would anyone do that? The dad even had a AR-15 Assault Rifle. umm People that knew this teen said he was quite & courteous.

4. I'm not sure if this boy should be tried as an adult. Be put into the system with other 'adult' criminals. But, with what this teen did, how can he ever be safe in society again? I don't feel he should be in the prison system. He should be locked away & be given a chance to have all the resources available. But, I don't believe he should be out anytime soon. What do you think?

Why do you think we are having SO many of our young people doing such horrible crimes? What do you think we as a society can do to help with this problem? I know No. 1 PARENTS need to start being better parents.

Father Was Gang Member Turned Pastor

Greg Griego was a longtime pastor, known for helping former and current inmates, as well as troubled youths.

Griego had converted his backyard barn into a halfway house for released prisoners, according to neighbors. He also held services at the county jail’s “God Pod,” where he gave inmates spiritual advice.

Griego was a former gang member, according to an article posted on the Prison Fellowship website.

He is also the brother of former Democratic state Sen. Eric Griego.

“Our family is grieving this terrible tragedy,” the family said in a statement, according to KOAT. “We appreciate the prayers and support we have received and request that the media honor our family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

Griego held several jobs, but lost his position at Calvary church a few months ago and had struggled to find work, said a neighbor, who attends weekly Bible study at the home.

The lack of funds left the family living “paycheck to paycheck,” she said, and, “it’s been really rough on them.”

Griego spent 13 years as a volunteer pastor at the Metropolitan Detention Center, jail spokeswoman Nataura Powdrell said. He was instrumental in starting the jail’s “God Pod,” a unit of the massive lockup where inmates interested in the Bible and its teachings could be assigned.

Also, Griego served as a volunteer chaplain at the Albuquerque Fire Department. The department issued a statement lamenting the loss.

“Chaplain Griego was a dedicated professional that passionately served his fellow man and the firefighters of this community,” the statement reads. “His calming spirit and gentle nature will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greg’s extended family.”

John Welch was a friend and co-worker of Griego’s at Calvary church. The two have been friends for 20 years, he said, and Griego has helped troubled kids get their lives back on track.

“I can’t believe that he’s gone,” he said Sunday outside the church.

He said Griego “would help a lot of folks, a lot of especially young kids,” and let them stay overnight, sometimes.

“He was one of the most courageous, one of the most kind and dear chaplain friends … that understood when I would tell him about having run into people that did cocaine or were involved in homicides, and I’m just praying for the teenager that’s in custody now,” Welch said.

The “God Pod” at MDC has since been scrapped because jail officials determined it constituted a violation of other inmates’ religious rights, Powdrell said, but Greg Griego continued to work at the MDC as a volunteer minister. He handed out free Bibles and worked as a spiritual counselor with inmates who wanted it.

She said he also helped set up the jail’s “Straight Streets” program, a Christian-based initiative to help inmates reintegrate into society. And Greg Griego was key in getting the jail to hire a full-time pastor; previously, it had been a volunteer position.

“I know he will be greatly missed by a great many inmates,” Powdrell said.

Says I have to have a subscription to read this article. Is there any way you can cut and paste the article here?

Quoting DawnPratt23:

Questions I have is why the father, a former gang member, who had a halfway house on his property could legally own guns in the first place. Why? Because he is the brother to former state Sen. Eric Griego. Good old boy state at its finest.

I agree, I will need to first wait to hear what the Dr's results are about this teen. But, I do feel that way too many crimes that are committed, Dr's are always coming out of the wood works to say they have some form of mental illness. As if to say that a crime that is so horrible, that the murderer has to be mentally ill. I disagree.

Yes, some are. But, I feel that some are just horrible, horrible people. If they are shown to be mentally ill, then I believe they should be in a hospital for the mentally ill. Over time if the Dr's feel they are safe to be back out into society, then some certainly do deserve to have a 2nd chance. Being on probation & supervised.

Quoting survivorinohio:

I think that he needs therapy and maybe meds and that doesnt happen in prison. The mentally ill end up in solitary confinement or segregation and isolation makes them crazier.

Something happened with this kid. I need a lot more details before I could level judgement as to what should happen to him.

Quoting Naturewoman4:

I'm not sure about that. Maybe, when they are younger yes. I also disagree, what he did was so vicious, that he should be in prison along with other kids that commit crimes like this. I guess that's 'Juvie'? But, not just be supervised. If let out, I believe he would commit another crime just as horrible. Maybe, being locked up away from society, & receiving counseling, then one day he can be released, idk. That's the problem with criminals & ANYONE that commits crime. Most repeat crimes & do commit even worse crimes.

I also very with the fact the father had so many guns, even an assult weapon. Then, his Uncle saying that in 'their culture'? they believed the oldest defends the family. Therefore, the father left the guns out & loaded. Sorry, but I wonder about the boy's upbringing. The father was gone all the time. Maybe, it was some type of rebellion.

Quoting survivorinohio:

Quoting rfurlongg:

Children, imo, should NEVER be tried as adults. In no other aspect of our society do we treat children as adults. Our judicial system should be no different. HOwever, I acknowledge our current juvie system is dangerously lacking in many, many, areas and in desperate need of reform.

I do not know what prompted his violent and deathly rampage. We may never know but I suspect there is a back story.

I totally agree. Nothing about how a childs hrain chemistry even works like an adult,.

I am sure there is a back story, maybe someday we will learn it .

I think this kid should be under supervision forever probably, but not in a prison.

I certainly understand that, but I must ask. Would it be different if he were 18 years old? Let's say for the sake of argument that he was abused (this is not true to the best of my knowledge at this point) and snapped, and killed everyone in the house. Would be receive the same compassion for this suffering or does the `magic' age of 18 nullify it and just make him another cold blooded killer who should have the book thrown at him?

Quoting survivorinohio:

The fact is that something almost always acts as a catalyst in these things and thought processes do rely on chemistry.

I am not trying to blame the victims but trying to process the why of it.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I don't know what to think as of yet because the details are scant. What I will not do is blame the victims for the crimes of murder that the son committed. At this point, at 15 yrs old, I have no inkling whether he will be tried as an adult. I do, however, believe that some measure of justice should be afford to the parents he killed and the siblings he took a lifetime away from. And the notion that he did not have a fully developed `brain chemistry' is an excuse when he knew right from wrong and turned himself into the police after he spend the day with his, girlfriend. Additionally, he texted a photo of his dead mother to his girlfriend prior to spending the day with her, She did not call the police.

IMO this isn't going to be the kind of case that enlightens parents at all.

That young man should be punished in a way that allows him to feel remorse and guilt. He really needs to be in intensive therapy. What pisses me off about it is that he becomes a burden of the state and taxpayers in order to be punished and become reformed, all because of his poor choices.

He killed his family. At some point the guilt he might feel will likely be more overwhelming than the feelings that led to his rampage. What a crappy life he has in front of him.

If he were 18 he would be less vulnerable in prison. If he were 18 he would have been on a path of growing up but I dont think most boys become men till their early 20s. Its tough as to what to do with a kid like this. That little girl that killed the neighbor child too. I do think they need locked up forever but I do not think that prison is humane to the mentally ill. I think we owe it to them to thoroughly explore the whys though.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I certainly understand that, but I must ask. Would it be different if he were 18 years old? Let's say for the sake of argument that he was abused (this is not true to the best of my knowledge at this point) and snapped, and killed everyone in the house. Would be receive the same compassion for this suffering or does the `magic' age of 18 nullify it and just make him another cold blooded killer who should have the book thrown at him?

Quoting survivorinohio:

The fact is that something almost always acts as a catalyst in these things and thought processes do rely on chemistry.

I am not trying to blame the victims but trying to process the why of it.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I don't know what to think as of yet because the details are scant. What I will not do is blame the victims for the crimes of murder that the son committed. At this point, at 15 yrs old, I have no inkling whether he will be tried as an adult. I do, however, believe that some measure of justice should be afford to the parents he killed and the siblings he took a lifetime away from. And the notion that he did not have a fully developed `brain chemistry' is an excuse when he knew right from wrong and turned himself into the police after he spend the day with his, girlfriend. Additionally, he texted a photo of his dead mother to his girlfriend prior to spending the day with her, She did not call the police.

How far you go in life depends on your being: tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of both the weak and strong. Because someday in life you would have been one or all of these.GeorgeWashingtonCarver

I had always known that name to be of Hispanic origin, since it is a popular name in NM and Mexico. Was most likely brought over by Cortes long ago, and considering the strong Catholic background of the area, not shocking that it would be Hebrew. The actual pronunciation is Nehemias.

New Mexico is far from Fundies, nor is that area rural. I was only trying to enlighten her to facts, and how far off the profiling was. Since I am from there and still have strong ties to the area. Wasn't sure were she got 10 kids, and rural area? Now if she was talking about Colorado City, AZ- yes, she would be right on.

The first mistake was allowing a former gang member guns, second mistake was having guns on a property that has a halfway house on it.

Quoting survivorinohio:

Nehemiah is a hebrew name. Many fundies are into guns and naming their kids hebrew names.

Much of what she said is good profiling IMO. Its hypothesis and opinion, not fact or assumption. At least thats how I read it. I was thinking a lot of the same having been raised by a similar fashion, all the fear and harsh punishment I mean.

We will see if it pans out to be this or not. Something definitely went wrong somewhere.

Quoting DawnPratt23:

What??? Really where do you get your info? There were 4 kids, Albuquerque is not a rural area, the names are Hispanic, he was a former gang member turned pastor for the police. And the guns were in the closet. Read the link I posted on the other page, from the City it happened in. I'm from there, and laughing at what you assume.

Quoting MaySheWillStay:

I can't pass judgement on what should happen to him until I know the whole story. The more I read about it, the more convinced I become that something very, very weird was going on in that family.

10 kids, pastor daddy, lot of the kids had crazy names that are only really heard amongst fundamentalists, kids were homeschooled, rural area, guns everywhere... they sound less the loving family and more the lunatic fringe.

If they are indeed fundie as I suspect they are, their child-raising methods probably include a lot of heavy-handed bible-thumping, corporal punishment and fear of the parents, lots of fear in general, lots of paranoia about government/outsiders/culture wars/persecution, among other gems this culture produces. Naturally not all fundamentalists are like this, but a good majority of them are, particularly the isolationist kinds.

I find it interesting he killed the siblings (those that were there at the time). It's so uncommon for youth to murder siblings. The motivations for killing parents and the motivations for killing siblings are usually completely different. Especially with such young siblings. I've read bits and pieces on it over the years, from what I remember, youth who murder parents usually do so out of rage, revenge or personal gain. Youth who murder siblings, especially child siblings, tend to do so in a twisted kind of mercy killing, to spare them from harm or further trauma.

Of course he could just have been completely insane or an "evil" person... but I think that's an all-too-easy answer we get and buy into all too often, because it's more comfortable to think of someone as insane or evil than to consider the possibility that good, relatively normal people can be driven to such extremes absent insanity or evil, by the conditions around them.

Thank-You for your post. Very interesting! Does anyone know what type of Church it was the family attended? We hear about teens killing their parents, but siblings? I agree, that really got to me. But, your post gave 1 possibility of why that could be. But, how would that explain wanting to go to Wal-Mart to shoot at shoppers?

Quoting MaySheWillStay:

I can't pass judgement on what should happen to him until I know the whole story. The more I read about it, the more convinced I become that something very, very weird was going on in that family.

10 kids, pastor daddy, lot of the kids had crazy names that are only really heard amongst fundamentalists, kids were homeschooled, rural area, guns everywhere... they sound less the loving family and more the lunatic fringe.

If they are indeed fundie as I suspect they are, their child-raising methods probably include a lot of heavy-handed bible-thumping, corporal punishment and fear of the parents, lots of fear in general, lots of paranoia about government/outsiders/culture wars/persecution, among other gems this culture produces. Naturally not all fundamentalists are like this, but a good majority of them are, particularly the isolationist kinds.

I find it interesting he killed the siblings (those that were there at the time). It's so uncommon for youth to murder siblings. The motivations for killing parents and the motivations for killing siblings are usually completely different. Especially with such young siblings. I've read bits and pieces on it over the years, from what I remember, youth who murder parents usually do so out of rage, revenge or personal gain. Youth who murder siblings, especially child siblings, tend to do so in a twisted kind of mercy killing, to spare them from harm or further trauma.

Of course he could just have been completely insane or an "evil" person... but I think that's an all-too-easy answer we get and buy into all too often, because it's more comfortable to think of someone as insane or evil than to consider the possibility that good, relatively normal people can be driven to such extremes absent insanity or evil, by the conditions around them.

I'm inclined to agree with you. There is no magic change that happens when that 18th birthday rolls in. Children do not, at least in my opinion really fully mature till those early 20's -- often it can be even longer. This is complicated because the onset of mental illness can be tricky and it does not automatically occur at puberty. It can manifest anytime during the teen years, My brother's onset was puberty. It was subtle at first and fully developed over his teenager years AS his brain matured. Again, I do agree with you that mentally ill persons should not be thrown in prisons. It's a disgrace not to incarcerate them in mental facilities. They suffer horribly. There own mind is attacking them and not enough people realize this fact.

Quoting survivorinohio:

If he were 18 he would be less vulnerable in prison. If he were 18 he would have been on a path of growing up but I dont think most boys become men till their early 20s. Its tough as to what to do with a kid like this. That little girl that killed the neighbor child too. I do think they need locked up forever but I do not think that prison is humane to the mentally ill. I think we owe it to them to thoroughly explore the whys though.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I certainly understand that, but I must ask. Would it be different if he were 18 years old? Let's say for the sake of argument that he was abused (this is not true to the best of my knowledge at this point) and snapped, and killed everyone in the house. Would be receive the same compassion for this suffering or does the `magic' age of 18 nullify it and just make him another cold blooded killer who should have the book thrown at him?

Quoting survivorinohio:

The fact is that something almost always acts as a catalyst in these things and thought processes do rely on chemistry.

I am not trying to blame the victims but trying to process the why of it.

Quoting MeAndTommyLee:

I don't know what to think as of yet because the details are scant. What I will not do is blame the victims for the crimes of murder that the son committed. At this point, at 15 yrs old, I have no inkling whether he will be tried as an adult. I do, however, believe that some measure of justice should be afford to the parents he killed and the siblings he took a lifetime away from. And the notion that he did not have a fully developed `brain chemistry' is an excuse when he knew right from wrong and turned himself into the police after he spend the day with his, girlfriend. Additionally, he texted a photo of his dead mother to his girlfriend prior to spending the day with her, She did not call the police.

If he were 18 he would be less vulnerable in prison. If he were 18 he would have been on a path of growing up but I dont think most boys become men till their early 20s. Its tough as to what to do with a kid like this. That little girl that killed the neighbor child too. I do think they need locked up forever but I do not think that prison is humane to the mentally ill. I think we owe it to them to thoroughly explore the whys though.

As far as I know minors are not held in prisons but youth facilities until they're 18. Sometimes longer depending on the location and how 'full' the prison is.

The family had 4 kids, includes the teen. I believe Nehemiah 15, a 9, 5 & 2 yr. The 2 yr. was a little girl :( I heard also that where they lived was semi-rural. I was curious as to their names as well. I agree too, that having all those guns in the home, LOADED & not locked up was a killing waiting to happen. Also, there was an assault weapon. I don't undestand why the father would have all those guns.

The Uncle even said, they do things different when it comes to comes to guns?? They have the oldest child defend the family, when the father is gone?? Therefore, not having them locked up & having them loaded?? Crazy. I wonder what the gun laws are in NM. How did the father able to get all those guns? I will never know how ANYONE can be allowed an assult weapon. Especially, since the father was an ex-gang member.

Quoting DawnPratt23:

I had always known that name to be of Hispanic origin, since it is a popular name in NM and Mexico. Was most likely brought over by Cortes long ago, and considering the strong Catholic background of the area, not shocking that it would be Hebrew. The actual pronunciation is Nehemias.

New Mexico is far from Fundies, nor is that area rural. I was only trying to enlighten her to facts, and how far off the profiling was. Since I am from there and still have strong ties to the area. Wasn't sure were she got 10 kids, and rural area? Now if she was talking about Colorado City, AZ- yes, she would be right on.

The first mistake was allowing a former gang member guns, second mistake was having guns on a property that has a halfway house on it.

Quoting survivorinohio:

Nehemiah is a hebrew name. Many fundies are into guns and naming their kids hebrew names.

Much of what she said is good profiling IMO. Its hypothesis and opinion, not fact or assumption. At least thats how I read it. I was thinking a lot of the same having been raised by a similar fashion, all the fear and harsh punishment I mean.

We will see if it pans out to be this or not. Something definitely went wrong somewhere.

Quoting DawnPratt23:

What??? Really where do you get your info? There were 4 kids, Albuquerque is not a rural area, the names are Hispanic, he was a former gang member turned pastor for the police. And the guns were in the closet. Read the link I posted on the other page, from the City it happened in. I'm from there, and laughing at what you assume.

Quoting MaySheWillStay:

I can't pass judgement on what should happen to him until I know the whole story. The more I read about it, the more convinced I become that something very, very weird was going on in that family.

10 kids, pastor daddy, lot of the kids had crazy names that are only really heard amongst fundamentalists, kids were homeschooled, rural area, guns everywhere... they sound less the loving family and more the lunatic fringe.

If they are indeed fundie as I suspect they are, their child-raising methods probably include a lot of heavy-handed bible-thumping, corporal punishment and fear of the parents, lots of fear in general, lots of paranoia about government/outsiders/culture wars/persecution, among other gems this culture produces. Naturally not all fundamentalists are like this, but a good majority of them are, particularly the isolationist kinds.

I find it interesting he killed the siblings (those that were there at the time). It's so uncommon for youth to murder siblings. The motivations for killing parents and the motivations for killing siblings are usually completely different. Especially with such young siblings. I've read bits and pieces on it over the years, from what I remember, youth who murder parents usually do so out of rage, revenge or personal gain. Youth who murder siblings, especially child siblings, tend to do so in a twisted kind of mercy killing, to spare them from harm or further trauma.

Of course he could just have been completely insane or an "evil" person... but I think that's an all-too-easy answer we get and buy into all too often, because it's more comfortable to think of someone as insane or evil than to consider the possibility that good, relatively normal people can be driven to such extremes absent insanity or evil, by the conditions around them.

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